Technically Speaking | a science and engineering discussion

Is importing wood for electricity production sustainable?

Some power stations in the UK that originally burned coal have switched to burning wood pellets. These are usually imported and of course, cutting down forests can lead to loss of habitat. Laura, Antonia and Jasmin discuss greenhouse gas emissions from burning wood and coal, talk about responsible forest management, and discuss how important biomass is for the UK's electricity supply. These discussion points, and more, were inspired by a recent BBC Panorama documentary, "The Green Energy Scandal Exposed".

Read a summary of this episode here. 

Should we bring back extinct species?

The TIGRR lab in Melbourne has recently announced plans to use genetic material from an extinct animal – the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger – to bring this species back while some crime fighting organisations are investing in genetic technology that could bring back the woolly mammoth. Weird right? Antonia, Ellie and Laura discuss extinction, climate change, and habitat loss while also debating whether this genetic research is a good idea or whether efforts should focus on saving the species that are about to go extinct. Just why is the FBI investing in genetics research?

Ellie mentions the IUCN: the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Antonia mentions the IPCC: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Laura mentions COP26: the Conference of the Parties 26th annual climate change conference.

Technical Short: The Nobel Peace Prize

In the last episode Antonia mentioned that some champions of sustainability have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The team got a bit distracted by this so here's the raw, unedited snippet of the conversation that didn't make the final cut for the episode.

What makes a Nobel Prize winner?

It's possibly the most well known prize that a scientist can be awarded! Ellie, Laura, Antonia and Emma disucss how the nominations and awards are made, what the award means and how science has changed since the first Nobel Prizes were awarded over 100 years ago. They also talk about some of their favorite Nobel Prize wining discoveries and whether they would give out extra awards in the future. They focus on prizes in physics and chemistry and briefly mention Nobel Prizes in peace, literature, physiology/medicine and the Nobel Memorial Prize in economic science.

Is there evidence for the multiverse?

We see it a lot in films where someone's life splits into two timelines and it features in the Marvel universe, but is the mutiverse real? Laura and Emma T. talk about quantum physics and the various theories that predict the multiverse as well as discussing practical applications of concepts related to physics such as finding probabilities and quantum entanglement. They also talk about some of the ways that multiverses are represented in the movies and whether they match with what physics predicts.

How can you predict a volcanic eruption?

At least twenty volcanoes are erupting as you read this but for many, it's not something we often think about. Laura, Antonia and Ellie discuss animals that live near volcanoes, what you would need to know to predict a volcanic eruption, how likely one is to erupt and whether we'd like to live near one. Just how does the galapagos land iguana sense that their volcano is about to blow?

What is toxic?

There are loads of things that we eat and drink that can be harmful if you have too much, and lots of ways that plants and animals protect themselves using toxins. Laura, Ellie and Priyanka discuss venomous snakes, and how they differ to poisonous creatures, and talk about what exactly happens in our bodies. What’s the difference between a neurotoxin and chemotherapy? Are apple pips really poisonous? What happens if a venomous snake bites itself? Listen in to find out.

What is the future of driving?

Trends show that an increasing number of people would prefer to drive cars with an automatic gear box. Is that because they're better to drive or because everyone will be driving electric cars which don't tend to need to change gears? Laura, Rwayda and Antonia discuss current advances in car technology, share their own experience of driving, and speculate about what the future might hold. Will we all be using flying cars in the future? What about self driving cars? And why do cars even need gearboxes anyway?

Want to learn more about electric motors and internal combusion engines? Read on to learn about how they work, what the gears really do for a car with an internal combusion engine, and why torque is so important.

What is cryptocurrency?

You hear a lot about it, but what is cryptocurrency, how do you get hold of it and what's it useful for? Laura finds out from Aneeqa and Jennifer what things like blockchain and mining bitcoin are about and how you can own a non-fungible token (NFT). They also discuss whether this decentralised currency is sustainable or if its all really a pyramid scheme.

Read more about this in Laura's article.

Is science or engineering better?

Ever thought about changing your career path? Are you just starting your career journey? Wondering what the difference is between science and engineering? Antonia, Rwayda and Ellie talk about their careers in these different disciplines, how they got started and whether they've changed their mind about what they want to do. They share the highs and lows of exam results days and how they recovered from what seemed, at the time, to be a setback.

Recorded with a live audience from the Engineering Development Trust's Insight into University programme, this discussion definitely was not biased towards the host's own disciplines. Ellie does a great job of flying the flag for science while Antonia explains how her engineering experience helps her as a consultant in the energy industry and Rwayda reveals a childhood passion for architecture that led her to civil engineering.